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Model, author and activist Alek Wek is an ambassador for H&M Conscious Foundation. "Having walked for thousands of miles looking for safety I thought: this is it. This is my chance and fashion should represent all the different beauties of women", she says about her career.

ALEK WEK – A REVOLUTIONARY FOR CHANGE

From refugee to supermodel, tireless humanitarian and global icon. Alek Wek tells H&M Life about being scouted at 18, why she felt obliged to shed light on big world problems – and what her beauty secrets are.

10 February 2016.

“I’m not going to be a one-hit-wonder, this is not going to be short-term. This will be long-term.”

Alek Wek’s mind was set and her vision of the future was clear when she decided to pursue a career in modelling in the mid 90s. She’s a woman with a willpower and pathos that can move mountains and when given a platform, she knew what she was going to do with it. Today, she works for several different organizations and is the ambassador for H&M Conscious Foundation.

“Modelling wasn’t about money or fame for me, it was about utilizing the space to shed light on important issues. It was in 1996 that I told my agent ‘you’re going to help me shed light on this. I got out and my family got out – but so many didn’t make it out of South Sudan.’ The world had to know.”

She has been a refugee herself and knows exactly how it feels to be forced to leave home and relatives behind to search safety far away. Born in South Sudan in 1977, Alek Wek fled her hometown together with her family shortly after the civil war broke out in 1983. At 14, they made their way to the safe haven that is the United Kingdom where she, five years after arriving, was discovered by a model scout in London’s Crystal Palace Park.

Modelling wasn’t about money or fame for me, it was about utilizing the space to shed light on important issues.

ALEK WEK

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as modelling when I was growing up. When I was discovered, I was five years out of South Sudan and was just getting used to living in London, to the new culture and to the language. The scout got my home phone number, called me and kept insisting that I should come in.”

When Alek Wek’s career launched the fashion industry was, in many ways, very different from what it is today. To begin with there was a group of models named Cindy, Naomi, Linda, Claudia and Christy, who were on the top of every designer’s and label’s wish list. To make it into that exclusive group and be on those lists, the industry demanded something extra, something special, and something new. That was Alek Wek – a model of colour whose gorgeous Dinka features were far from the conventional beauty ideals at the time.

“Fashion draws inspiration from all over the place and therefore it’s natural that it should celebrate all cultures and colours. I’ve always been told that beauty isn’t the clothes or makeup you wear; that those are only things that can enhance the natural beauty of a woman. Which is within. I remember when Steven Meisel said ‘Alek, take that wig off. What kind of music do you want? I just want you to be you,’” she says and continues: “Having walked for thousands of miles looking for safety I thought: this is it. This is my chance and fashion should represent all the different beauties of women.”

When reading about Alek Wek on model directory MODELS.com, she’s credited as the woman who revolutionized the industry and changed its concept of beauty. That happened two decades ago and now she says she only models in moderation. She devotes most of her time to activism, philanthropy and working to make the world a better place.

OUT OF ALL THE CAUSES YOU WORK FOR, WHICH ONE DO YOU KEEP CLOSEST TO YOUR HEART?
“I’ve always advocated for the importance of education, especially for girls. If you educate a girl, you educate a family, a community and a society. My father told me that you can lose everything, but you can never lose your knowledge.”

On February 10, the first ever Global Change Award Ceremony is arranged by H&M Conscious Foundation in Stockholm. Alek Wek, who has been the ambassador for the foundation since 2014, is the dinner hostess for the event, where five innovations that over time can help close the loop for the fashion industry will split the grant of one million euro.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH CLOTHES AND ITEMS THAT YOU’RE NOT WEARING ANY MORE?
“I have a lot of nieces and sisters who I hand down clothes and items to. I try to clean out my wardrobe every spring and winter, and that makes me realize I don’t wear a lot of the clothes I have, and I have quite a lot because of the nature of my work. There are centres and local stores where I leave the clothes my relatives don’t want. I also go to the Salvation Army and leave clothes. One man’s trash truly is another man’s treasure!”

A LOT OF US WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND WORK FOR POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE WORLD. WHAT CONTRIBUTION CAN EVERYBODY MAKE?
“Educate yourself! Go online and look for information and you can find something that can fit your schedule and curiosity.”

The Global Change Award Ceremony takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 February. Read about the award, the winners and see pictures from the event (available after 11 February) here.

ALEK WEK

AGE: 38

LIVES IN: Brooklyn, New York

OCCUPATION: Model, author, activist. She is an ambassador for H&M Conscious Foundation since 2014

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